Sears Canada Cuts 1,200 Jobs

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Toronto, Sears Canada Inc. is cutting 1,200 jobs as part of its promise to improve the productivity of its operations. According to company spokesman Vincent Power, the layoffs, which span the entire country, were the result of a business-by-business review the retailer announced in September. Power said that with the recent sale of Sears’ credit division, the priority is firmly on merchandising.

“We want to have a cost structure that’s competitive with other retailers in the Canadian marketplace,” Power said.

About one-third of the reductions are managerial and support staff from the chain’s 122 full-line stores and 50 Sears Home stores. The balance of the cuts will come from various areas, including logistics, buying and administrative. Front-line sales staff was virtually untouched.

Sears Canada had disclosed last month that it would take a C$70 million ($60.3 million) charge in the fourth quarter as part of its productivity-related initiatives. Most industry-watchers believe Sears Holdings Corp., which owns 54% of Sears Canada, has initiated the sale of the credit-card division and staff reductions in an effort to surface value in the Canadian division.